DIOCESE OF GERMANY: December 6, 2012Munich’s Cathedral of the Holy New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia Will Host the Annual Open Orthodox Seminar

The Cathedral of the Holy New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia in Munich, Germany, will host the annual Open Orthodox Seminar, to be held on December 26-28. The program is as follows:
· Liturgics: “The Participatio Services” by Nun Vassa (Dr Larin, Vienna University)
· Dogmatics: “The 7th Century: Free Human Will. Theosis. The Podvig of St Maxim the Confessor” by Protopriest Nikolai Artemoff (Munich)
· History:
1. “Orthodoxy in the Holy Land in the Byzantine Period” by Deacon Alexander Zanemonets (Jerusalem)
2. Russian Church History. On the eve of the celebration of the 400th anniversary of the Romanov Dynasy, “Eminent Church Hierarchs of the 16th Century, a View Through the Prism of History” by Priest Dimitri Svistov (Saarbrukken)
· Mysteries: “Holy Scripture Through the Prism of the Rite of Matrimony” by Protopriest Ilya Limberger (Stuttgart)
· Youth in the Church: “Youth Ministry in Russia” by Lia Smirnova (Moscow)
· Photoreport: “Solovetsky Monastery. The Russian North” by Valery Slushenkov (Rga)

“Participatio actuosa (Active Participation of the Faithful) in the Context of Orthodox Liturgics”

In the 20th century, the Liturgical Movement in the Roman Catholic Church declared the need for participatio actuosa, or active participation, by the people in church services. Pastoral interest in such active participation was expressed at Vatican II, and inspired a whole series of liturgical reforms by that council. In her lecture, Nun Vassa will examine the principle of active participation in the context of Orthodox divine services, asking the question “Is the principle of “active participation” of the people—and not simply the clergy and choir—important in Orthodox services? Has there been pastoral concern in the history of Orthodox liturgics and the Typikon for the active participation of the people, and if so, what form did it take?”

“Eminent Church Hierarchs of the 16th Century, a View Through the Prism of History”

The terrible upheavals caused by the Oprichnina of Tsar Ivan the Terrible and the subsequent events of the Time of Troubles could not but involve the Church hierarchy. The Muscovite hierarchs Macarius, Philipp, Job and Ermogen, each in his own way tried pastorally to affect contemporary political life and its leading figures. Their efforts, viewed against the canvas of history, can be considered one of the conditions for the end of the Time of Troubles.

“Holy Scripture Through the Prism of the Rite of Matrimony”
Of all the rites of the Orthodox Church, the rite of marriage probably contains the most direct and indirect references to Holy Scripture, both New and Old Testaments. The semantic passages of Scripture are used in the rite as mystagogical instruments in leading the betrothed into the mystery and mysteriousness of matrimony itself. They are cited to become energetic vectors acting upon the future married life of the bride and groom. The lecture will examine several such references from Holy Scripture and the semantic impulses which they provide for the building of a marriage.Wednesday, December 26, 2012
3:00 pm: moleben.
The opening of the event by His Eminence Archbishop Mark of Berlin and Germany.
3:34: Lectures, discussion.
5:00: Vespersandmatins (confession).
7:45: Dinner.